Mazda goes Zoom Zoom with biodiesel

Even as they’ve ditched the catchy “Zoom Zoom” tagline, the ethos is still clearly beating strong in the cars they produce. In an effort to realise carbon neutrality, Mazda Motor Corporation aims to popularise the use of next-generation biodiesel fuels and has gone racing in the Super Taikyu Race at the Okayama International Circuit over the 13-14 November weekend fueled by biodiesel.

The machine of choice isn’t one with some spinning triangles within but instead a more conventional Mazda Demio Skyactiv-D 1.5 operated by Team NOPRO. Under the leadership of Toshihiko Nogami, the team has raced in the Super Taikyu Series since 2015 and has also competed in the Super GT Series prior to that.

As carmakers narrow down their approach towards next-gen motivation for their vehicles; opting instead to focus on a sole power options, Mazda believes the future lies in offering customers a variety of options to achieve carbon neutrality. This includes hybrids, EVs and of course, diesels in a bid to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

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The number 37 “Mazda Spirit Racing Bio concept Demio” ran on 100 percent bio-based fuel made from used cooking oil and microalgae fats. Furthermore, the Skyactiv-D 1.5 engine in the racecar will operate at sustained peak performance without any engine modifications. It participated in the ST-Q class running on a biofuel called “Susteo” supplied by Euglena and with the cooperation of the NOPRO3 racing team. From next year, Mazda will step up its efforts and participate in all rounds of the endurance race throughout the season. The plan is to receive fuels from Euglena for the next season as well.

The ST-Q class is a class open to cars developed by manufacturers and approved by the Super Taikyu Organizing Committee. Keeping Mazda company on the grid is Toyota with a hydrogen-powered Corolla.

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Next-generation biodiesel fuels, which are made from sustainable raw materials such as microalgae fats and used cooking oil, do not compete with the human food supply chain, which has been an issue with existing biodiesel fuels, and because these fuels can also be used as alternatives to diesel fuel in existing vehicles and equipment without any modification, no additional fuel supply infrastructure is required. Therefore, biodiesel fuels can be expected to play a prominent role as an excellent liquid fuel source in promoting carbon neutrality.

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Mazda is a member of the Hiroshima "Your Green Fuel" Project, a demonstration project in Hiroshima for popularizing and spreading the use of next-generation biofuels jointly run by the Hiroshima Council for Automotive Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration. In August 2020, the project confirmed that the performance of this biodiesel fuel was on a par with petroleum-based diesel fuel, and Mazda commenced using it in company cars with diesel engine.